Nerve Endings Firing Away

Being a full-time graduate student has its perks. In spite of the monetary insecurity especially during the most productive years of your life, it has its charm. Sometimes I wonder if I ever will be able to make the transition to working full-time. One of the perks of graduate school especially for non-science (natural) students is the freedom to work away from school. But we too have to work part-time either at the academic department or some other department that waives your tuition while paying a stipend that you could live off. I belong to the second category. Still I work only three days a week. Why? International students are restricted to just 20 hours, remember? Stupid rule, in my opinion though. Anyway, I get to spend my Mondays and Fridays away from work and usually I spend it catching up on my readings and assignments.

These are the best days of the week for me and I don’t have the ill-fortune of experiencing Monday blues (Tuesdays aren’t really that blue). I’m not much of a homebody and prefer to even study outside usually at a coffee shop. Being a college town, this place has its fair share of such places and I’m lucky enough to have one at walking distance. I say lucky because College Station otherwise is like any other Texas city, addicted to the automobile and damn proud of the fact too. Our apartment complex is located next to the Wolf Pen Creek although calling it a creek is like calling your backyard pool a lake. But it isn’t that bad and the city has developed its periphery by laying out paved walkways, benches, water fountains, and maintaining a wooded buffer along the creek. Ash and I take our evening walks along this creek where it might be the only place you run into walking people in College Station (not counting the University, of course).

At other times, I walk along the embankment of our apartment complex that borders the creek’s green buffer. I recently learnt that the buffer is not as wide as I thought it would be since a townhome development is coming up between the creek and our backyard. Sometimes I spot a black snake (Black Mamba, I’ve named him although I’m sure it isn’t one) lazily sunning itself on the grass below the embankment I walk on. Everytime I see Black Mamba I fear falling on top of it but at the same time, I smile because I remember a particular Central Texas News telecast. They were reporting on the high incidences of snake bites in the summer and were advising on treatment. Obviously, the first remedy was to rush to the hospital and they recommended bringing the snake along. As an afterthought, they also mentioned that they think it would be a better idea to make sure that the snake is dead. Wow! You think? Otherwise you could just ask Black Mamba after he is done biting you, hey what are you doing the rest of the day? Fancy a ride to the ER with me?

I like looking down from the bridge at the little ecosystem along the creek. Sometimes if you are lucky, you see a turtle too. There is only a tiny trickle of water unless you walk just after a thunderstorm when thanks to all the concrete paving elsewhere, the creek is a gushing torrent of water albeit only for a while before it runs to the Brazos River. I am the only one pressing the Walk button at the crossing on Harvey Road although occasionally a Hispanic worker on a bicycle will stand next to me and bemusedly nod to acknowledge my existence there. I’m now quite aware of Sweet Eugene’s busy times and acquainted with the employees who are used to seeing me around. I’m sure they know when I would be there as much as I am of when they would be. After I’m done studying or blogging, I head home the same way. Black Mamba is never around in the afternoons. Probably siesta time.